


Always by your side

by godbewithyouihavedone



Series: Hamilton Soulmate Mark AU [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multi, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 16:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5423981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godbewithyouihavedone/pseuds/godbewithyouihavedone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Angelica thinks of the letters on the back of her shoulder in careful loops.  She and Eliza used to read them to each other when they were young.</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Three short stories from a Hamilton soulmate markings AU.  Aaron Burr, Angelica Schuyler, and Alexander Hamilton.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always by your side

**I.**

Aaron Burr always thought Theodosia a beautiful name. It took him ages to sound out, as a child. He checked his wrist over and over again when people asked him what was written there.

He'd clung to that surety. Even though he did not have a true family now, someday, fate would align, if he could only find the patience. Other children teased him for the sloppy writing, echoes of the lines scribbled across. They thought he'd done it himself, but he knew the truth. He knew what he deserved.

Then he meets her, on the arm of another man. A married mother, but when they see each other the knowledge is as final as death. Later, he traces the "Aaron" pressed over her hip. "My family grew tired of waiting, said the marks would not matter if I became an old maid," she says. "I resigned myself never to find you."

He holds her close. "I'm found, not to be lost again." Some men might balk at cuckolding another, at being pushed to the side, but he knows what this is worth.

Finally, they marry, and soon they welcome a daughter. "I want her to have my name," Theodosia says. Aaron glances at the end of the mark peeking out from his sleeves, the two strokes to each letter, and smiles.

**II.**

"There's a million things I haven't done, but just you wait, Miss Schuyler," he says. It is all Angelica can do not to kiss him, to lean forward and steal every proud word. No one has ever talked to her like this. His mind travels faster than horses, and when he looks at her, it's as if he expects her to keep pace. She has so much to ask him, about his work under General Washington, his opinion on the Continental Congress.

But something causes her to glance back. All her great hopes collide with the yearning clear in Eliza's every feature. "This one's mine," she'd said. Angelica would not deny her sister anything, but she has never felt like this. He's made it clear he needs an equal as well. It would be so easy to flirt back, to captivate him as he has already captured her.

Eliza keeps staring, arms folded over each other, shoulders hunched in shyness. Alexander has no money, and she is the eldest. But that does not change her determination. Or it would not, if Eliza did not look so lost.

Angelica thinks of the letters on the back of her shoulder in careful loops. She and Eliza used to read them to each other when they were young. As amazing as Alexander is, she cannot betray the one who has always mattered most. If they marry, he will undress her, peel her dress down to see her selfishness, written forever.

Eliza, it says. Eliza, not Alexander, is the one. Not a great love for the ages, not the dream she had of romantic partnership, but a quiet sisterly devotion she cannot shake. And Eliza has Angelica as well, on the opposite shoulder. If she knew what she wished, she would make the same sacrifice, and live in pain.

"Where are you taking me?" he asks, as Angelica grabs his hands and leads him away from her.

**III.**

Philip is perhaps the most handsome baby in the entire history of time. Yet his articulation currently leaves much to be desired. He burbles and Alexander talks back, telling him about how spectacular America will be. There is still a part of him absurdly grateful to be here, raising his own child in a prosperous new nation. He can give him a father that still retains his pride.

He reaches down. Philip's chubby hand wraps around his finger, and he smiles back at his son. "I knew you'd like that! Then we'll free all the slaves—"

"Alexander, there's a letter for you," Eliza says. She stands in the doorway, the envelope already open, worry clear on her face.

He can barely read it. Henry Laurens is an insidious toad who never made John feel welcome, and he doesn't deserve to bear this news. He sounds more worried about the lost glory of the regiment than the fact that Laurens is gone forever.

Philip fusses in his arms. A new life, just as the brightest part of Alexander's is extinguished.

He hands Philip off to Eliza, who asks after his mind. He cannot say he is alright. She knows when he lies to her. She's seen the name across his chest, even though he told her it spoke to their deep friendship.

Have the British bullets and festering wounds wiped out its matching partner? He hopes, for John's sake, for he was always terrified for his family to know. He hopes not, for his own. One last piece of John to be his, when their war robbed him of the rest.

"I have so much work to do," he says. He is empty, incomplete, for the first time since they have known each other. Even with the incomparable Eliza by his side, it's not enough. Alexander had seen their bond as a meeting of minds, even though that was not all. They were supposed to ensure America's future together. Even now, their promise still burns at his chest.

He will have to finish it alone.


End file.
